The Unusual Honeymoon (1912)
Article 5549 by Dave Sindelar
Date: 6-3-2018
Directed by James Young
Featuring Charles Edwards, Flora Finch, Rose Tapley
Country: USA
What it is: Tall tale

A Scotsman and his wife set loose in a hot-air balloon at a local fair, and end up stranded on an island with cannibals, which they keep at bay by playing the bagpipes.

This short got on my suggestions list on the strength of a plot point whereby the natives believe the bagpipes are “magic”. This, along with a couple of other points (the presence of cannibals, and the “tall tale” device of keeping the cannibals at bay by throwing snuff at them, causing them to be too busy sneezing to be a threat) make the short marginally fantastic, but only just so. As might be expected, it’s mostly played for laughs. Beyond that, there’s really not a whole lot to this one, and it’s pretty slow to get the story moving; the couple don’t reach the balloon until a third of the way through.